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JAKARTA
POST, 06 Juli 2013
Brunei
played its role well and successfully assembled world dignitaries at the
recently concluded ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting, ASEAN Post Ministerial
Conference with Dialogue Partners, East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting,
the ASEAN Regional Forum and other related meetings from June 29-July 2 in
Bandar Seri Begawan.
All 10 ASEAN Dialogue Partner foreign ministers, from US State Secretary John Kerry to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, attended their respective ministerial conferences with their ASEAN counterparts. North Korea Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun was also in attendance. The platform managed to facilitate other side line meetings to further discuss world issues, such as Syria, the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea.
Brunei overall has done an exemplary job so far in managing its 2013 ASEAN chairmanship. One item that could have been added to the joint communique:
An update or plan as to how ASEAN would extend its support to Myanmar for chairmanship next year.
Since late last year we have seen in the news that Myanmar has been gearing up for its unprecedented chairmanship in 2014, by actively strengthening its capacity both within Myanmar and at its various key diplomatic missions. It is also heartening to see many foreign countries, UN agencies and international organizations offering help. Some assistance is ongoing and some is in the pipelines.
Undoubtedly, ASEAN elites, including the Myanmar people, are committed to ensuring that ASEAN moves forward next year — when Myanmar holds its landmark chairmanship after its accession to ASEAN in 1997 — especially as it is just one more year before the ASEAN Community 2015 goal. It is crucial that Myanmar is able to hit the ground running come Jan. 1, 2014.
I have no doubt Myanmar will do its job well given its earnest will and commitment. It is, however, an inevitable fact that this will be the country’s maiden ASEAN chairmanship; and we are talking about one of the least developed countries within the grouping. Therefore a well-planned, well-coordinated plan involving Myanmar’s government and community and the rest of “friends of Myanmar” are critical.
There are four steps that might be worth considering.
First, Brunei as the current chair may want to set up a task force comprising the ASEAN troika (current, past, future ASEAN Chairs), other ASEAN member states who wish to participate (most possibly Indonesia), and the ASEAN Secretariat. This task force will assist Myanmar as it sets out a comprehensive plan for a successful chairmanship.
This could include logistics aspects, inter alia necessary infrastructure such as meeting venues and accommodation, human resources, protocols, agenda and program setting, inter-departmental coordination; to substantive aspects, such as determining what Myanmar’s overall strategic priority is across the three pillars of ASEAN cooperation as the latter gears toward the ASEAN Community by 2015.
Second, Myanmar is blessed to have many caring partners: foreign countries and international organizations around the world, which have offered to help in all sorts of way. Thus, a grand plan or strategy is key. Such a plan would enable Myanmar to gauge what it needs to be in place.
The gaps in between these needs could then be easily well-resourced from available funds or support from external partners.
The ASEAN Secretariat, having experience in strategic planning, donor coordination and assisting ASEAN chairs over the past decade, is the best party to be the facilitator and help coordinate assistance.
Third, from recent observations of the news, some donors, such as the US, Germany and UNITAR, have started to execute their support programs, in the form of training or capacity building.
These leading donors might want to align their planned support among themselves to promote greater synergy. Moreover, it might be helpful if they can also assist the secretariat and Myanmar’s government by calling for informal, open consultations among concerned donors.
Some donors may want to help but do not know where to start; some donors might have started to approach either through Myanmar’s government or the ASEAN Secretariat. At the end of the day, it is normally at donors’ best interest to ensure that taxpayers’ money is aptly spent. Therefore, proper coordination is important.
Fourth, if at all possible, a physical small secretariat or office either in Nay Pyi Taw or Jakarta might help facilitate the whole process envisaged. The office should not be an additional layer of bureaucracy but should complement the existing plan and system.
On top of the four ideas, I believe they will work best and yield the most optimal result, if and when Myanmar sits in the driving seat and steers the whole process. External partners, should understand that this is Myanmar’s responsibility and priority and a sense of mutual respect of sovereignty and noninterference should continue as the basic principles of interstate relations.
Time is ticking and Myanmar seems to have quite a lot on their plate. Not only the chairmanship but will play host to the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games for the third time (last one being in 1969) slated for December this year. The stakes are just too high for Myanmar, ASEAN, the dialogue partners and all friends of Myanmar to not have a proper plan and strategy.
Benjamin Franklin once noted that by failing to prepare you are preparing to fail. No one wants Myanmar and ASEAN to fail in this respect. ●
All 10 ASEAN Dialogue Partner foreign ministers, from US State Secretary John Kerry to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, attended their respective ministerial conferences with their ASEAN counterparts. North Korea Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun was also in attendance. The platform managed to facilitate other side line meetings to further discuss world issues, such as Syria, the Korean Peninsula and the South China Sea.
Brunei overall has done an exemplary job so far in managing its 2013 ASEAN chairmanship. One item that could have been added to the joint communique:
An update or plan as to how ASEAN would extend its support to Myanmar for chairmanship next year.
Since late last year we have seen in the news that Myanmar has been gearing up for its unprecedented chairmanship in 2014, by actively strengthening its capacity both within Myanmar and at its various key diplomatic missions. It is also heartening to see many foreign countries, UN agencies and international organizations offering help. Some assistance is ongoing and some is in the pipelines.
Undoubtedly, ASEAN elites, including the Myanmar people, are committed to ensuring that ASEAN moves forward next year — when Myanmar holds its landmark chairmanship after its accession to ASEAN in 1997 — especially as it is just one more year before the ASEAN Community 2015 goal. It is crucial that Myanmar is able to hit the ground running come Jan. 1, 2014.
I have no doubt Myanmar will do its job well given its earnest will and commitment. It is, however, an inevitable fact that this will be the country’s maiden ASEAN chairmanship; and we are talking about one of the least developed countries within the grouping. Therefore a well-planned, well-coordinated plan involving Myanmar’s government and community and the rest of “friends of Myanmar” are critical.
There are four steps that might be worth considering.
First, Brunei as the current chair may want to set up a task force comprising the ASEAN troika (current, past, future ASEAN Chairs), other ASEAN member states who wish to participate (most possibly Indonesia), and the ASEAN Secretariat. This task force will assist Myanmar as it sets out a comprehensive plan for a successful chairmanship.
This could include logistics aspects, inter alia necessary infrastructure such as meeting venues and accommodation, human resources, protocols, agenda and program setting, inter-departmental coordination; to substantive aspects, such as determining what Myanmar’s overall strategic priority is across the three pillars of ASEAN cooperation as the latter gears toward the ASEAN Community by 2015.
Second, Myanmar is blessed to have many caring partners: foreign countries and international organizations around the world, which have offered to help in all sorts of way. Thus, a grand plan or strategy is key. Such a plan would enable Myanmar to gauge what it needs to be in place.
The gaps in between these needs could then be easily well-resourced from available funds or support from external partners.
The ASEAN Secretariat, having experience in strategic planning, donor coordination and assisting ASEAN chairs over the past decade, is the best party to be the facilitator and help coordinate assistance.
Third, from recent observations of the news, some donors, such as the US, Germany and UNITAR, have started to execute their support programs, in the form of training or capacity building.
These leading donors might want to align their planned support among themselves to promote greater synergy. Moreover, it might be helpful if they can also assist the secretariat and Myanmar’s government by calling for informal, open consultations among concerned donors.
Some donors may want to help but do not know where to start; some donors might have started to approach either through Myanmar’s government or the ASEAN Secretariat. At the end of the day, it is normally at donors’ best interest to ensure that taxpayers’ money is aptly spent. Therefore, proper coordination is important.
Fourth, if at all possible, a physical small secretariat or office either in Nay Pyi Taw or Jakarta might help facilitate the whole process envisaged. The office should not be an additional layer of bureaucracy but should complement the existing plan and system.
On top of the four ideas, I believe they will work best and yield the most optimal result, if and when Myanmar sits in the driving seat and steers the whole process. External partners, should understand that this is Myanmar’s responsibility and priority and a sense of mutual respect of sovereignty and noninterference should continue as the basic principles of interstate relations.
Time is ticking and Myanmar seems to have quite a lot on their plate. Not only the chairmanship but will play host to the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games for the third time (last one being in 1969) slated for December this year. The stakes are just too high for Myanmar, ASEAN, the dialogue partners and all friends of Myanmar to not have a proper plan and strategy.
Benjamin Franklin once noted that by failing to prepare you are preparing to fail. No one wants Myanmar and ASEAN to fail in this respect. ●
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